How to Read the Mahjong Card: A Beginner's Guide

The first time you see the National Mah Jongg League card, it looks like a spreadsheet wrote a ransom note. Rows of colored numbers, stray letters, a value floating at the end of each line. It is completely readable, though, the moment someone hands you the key. Here's the key.

If you're not sure what the card even is yet, start with the American Mahjong card, explained, then come back.

Start here: each line is one hand

The card is a menu. Every line is a single legal way to win, read left to right, and it's grouped under category headers. Your job in any hand is to steer your tiles toward one of these lines. That's it. Everything below is just how to read a single line.

The numbers

Numbers 1 through 9 mean the numbered tiles in a suit. When a number repeats, it tells you how many of that tile you need:

• 11 = a pair of 1s
• 111 = three 1s (a Pung)
• 1111 = four 1s (a Kong)

So a run like 111 222 333 is three Pungs, in the 1s, 2s and 3s.

The colors (this is the big one)

Here's the insight that makes the whole card click. The card is printed in three colors, navy, red, and green, and the colors are not decoration. They tell you whether groups must be the same suit or different suits:

• Tiles shown in the same color must be the same suit.
• Tiles shown in different colors must be different suits.

Important: the colors don't tell you which suit to use, you choose that. Navy doesn't mean Bams. It only tells you which groups have to match and which have to differ. Once this lands, most of the card stops being mysterious.

The letters

A few letters stand in for the special tiles: F for Flower, D for Dragon, and N, E, W, S for the wind tiles (North, East, West, South). When you see them in a line, they mean exactly those tiles.

The X and the C at the end

At the end of each line you'll see a letter that changes how you're allowed to build the hand:

• X = Exposed. You can call discarded tiles and expose your sets face-up as you go.
• C = Concealed. You cannot call tiles or expose anything, every tile has to come from the wall, except the final tile that completes your Mahjong. Concealed hands are harder, which is why they're generally worth more.

The value

Finally, each line shows a point value, 25, 30, 40, and up. The harder the hand, the higher the number. It's how much the hand pays when you win with it, and a quick gauge of difficulty when you're deciding what to chase.

Putting it together

Read a line left to right: the numbers and letters tell you which tiles, the colors tell you which suits must match or differ, the X or C tells you how you're allowed to build it, and the value tells you what it's worth. That's the entire skill. The rest is practice, and every hand you play makes the card a little more like a language you speak and a little less like code.

Frequently asked questions

What do the colors on the mahjong card mean?

They show whether groups of tiles must be the same suit or different suits. Same color means same suit; different colors mean different suits. You pick which actual suits to use.

What does X and C mean on the mahjong card?

X means the hand can be Exposed, you may call and show tiles. C means Concealed, you must draw every tile from the wall (except the winning tile) and expose nothing. Concealed hands are worth more.

What does 111 mean on the card?

Three of the same number tile, a Pung. Two digits (11) is a pair, four (1111) is a Kong.

How long does it take to learn to read the card?

The rules above take five minutes. Fluency, glancing at a line and instantly seeing the hand, comes with a few games of practice.

Want to win more with what you read? See how to win at American Mahjong.